Carbureted water gas apparatus



April 1940- c. v. M INTl-RE -r AL. 2,195,465

CARBURETED WATER GAS APPARATUS Filed April 15, 1938 ATTORNEY tion of the carburetorabove the checkerbrick I5 is unobstructed throughout its horizontal cross sectional area. A water cooled oil spray I1 is disposed at the top of the carburetor preferably on the vertical axis thereof and is arranged to supply oil which may be gas oil or heavyoil such as Bunker C oil to the carburetor during the v water gas making steps in a directioncountercurrent to the upward flow of water gas through the carburetor. The top of the carburetor has a gas} outlet l8 leading into, the top of the superheater 3.

The base of the carburetor involves a refractory lined vertical walled portion I9 of reduced cross sectional area as compared with'the cross sectional area of the unobstructed portion above checkerbridge l5 and a refractory lined upwardly flaring cone-shaped portion 2!. The inlet llliof the carburetor extends downwardly into the carburetor base at one side thereof so that blast gases and secondary'air introduced through the inlet enter the base of the carburetor downwardly ina direction tangential tofthe Wall of the base. 'Impingement of the, gases upon the vertical wall portion l9 and flared wall portion 2! causes the gases to swirl rapidly about the carburetor base in contact with-the wallsthereof. As

the gases sweep over the carburetorthey pick up.

. and suspend in the gaslcurrent carbonaceous particles deposited in the baseof the carburetor during the previous water gas carbureting step and retain in suspension particles of generator fuel blown over. into the carburetor. These particles "are burned in suspension by the secondary air which is admitted in amount sufiicientto efiect substantially complete combustion of the particles. The turbulentrotary motion of the gases effects thorough admixture of the blastgases and secondary air and thorough contact of the air with the carbon particles, thereby promoting efficient burning of the blast gases and carbon par- .wardly. into checkerwork l5 and the lower part ,of the oil vaporizing zone. Thebase of the car- -buretor may be provided with a closure 22 which may be opened from time to time for inspection purposes and for the removal of the small amounts of relatively heavy material such as ash which collect in the base; v a

' The superheater 3 has a .cir'cularinlet 24, the centerof which is disposed to coincide with the longitudinal axis ofthe superheater. Inlet .24 of thesuperheater and outlet ,jl8'of the carburetor 21 which, as shown in-the drawing, permits unobstructed flow of gas from the carburetor into the superheater. Checkerbrick 29, which may be of the type disclosed and claimed in United States Patent No. 1,927,834, granted September 26, 1933, completely fills the superheater 3 and rests on arches 39 disposed at the base of the superheater. Gas outlet 3| of the superheater leads into a verticalv refractory lined stack 32 provided with a suitable stack valve 34. This'stack is of a height somewhat greater than the height of the super heater so that, as shown on the' drawing,'stack valve 34 is disposed above the top of the super heater and constitutes the highest point of the set. I 1 A conduit 35 leads from a point near the top of stack.

introduced onto the top of the generator the stack 32 intoavalve casing 36 which in turn communicates by pipe 31 with a wash "box 38.

Backrun line or conduit 39 leads from the base of the generator beneath the grate into valve casing 36. The valvecasing 36, as well known inthis art, is provided with a'three-way valve for reversing flow throughfthe set, i. e., in one position it permits flow of uprun gas from the superheater into wash box.38 while closing the backrun pipe and when reversed opens backrun pipe 39 so as 110, permit flow of b'ackrun gas therethrough into the washbox while closing conduit 35. A gas oiftake 40 leads from. the wash box to the usual purification equipment.

Backrun steam-inlet 42 is provided for supply:-

ing steam to the top of the stack'which, as above indicated, communicates with the superheater.

The set may be operated as follows: During the blastingstep, air is admitted to the based the generator and secondary air isintroduced through'inlet l l, the blast gases and air 1 passihg through carburetor inlet III in a downwardly inclined direction tangential to thewalls of the carburetor base. These walls impart to. the

burninggases a' swirling, rotary motion analogous to thatjofa whirlwind and as the 'gases sweep .over the walls they pick up particles of oil carbon deposited in the base during a previous carbur: etting period and burn these particles as well as particles of blown over generator-fuelv in suspension. The'turbulenjt rotary motion of the gases 'eifects thorough mixture of the blast gases'and secondary "air and intimate contact between the air and carbon particles and hence promotes suspended particles, largely in-the lower portion of the carburetor so that the lower portion of iche vaporizing zone, where the heavier, less volatile, fractions are vaporized, is heated to the high ,of the lower part of the oil vaporizing zone. The.

hot gases thenpass out of the'carburetor, down through the superheater and up through the [After the blast period, steam is introduced into the bottom of the generator, the water gas leaving the top of the fuel bed passing upwardly through the carburetor in contact withthe atomized oil introduced through spray I1 and thence downwardly through the superheater and upwardly through the stack from which it may pass' through connection 35 to wash box 38. As the foil passes downwardly through the carburetor are connected bya refractor lined LcQuntercurrent to the upflowing Water gas. the

oil fractions are progressively Volatillzed, the heavier, less volatile, fractions being vaporized by the intense heat in the lower part of the vaporizing zone. f w

The uprun may be followed by a backrun during which steam is introduced into the stack-- through steam inlet." and is preheated as it flows through the stack, superheater and carburetor, backrun water gas being withdrawn from the baseof the generator through backrun pipe 39. During the backrun or uprun or both, oil, which may be heavy oil such as Bunker C oil, may be fuel bed through oil spray 9.

Since changesv may be made without departing. from the scope of the invention, it is intended thorough burning of both the blast gases and the 5'5 tion, saidcarburetor having an inlet connecting said generator to the base of the carburetor and entering the restricted base portion in downwardly extending substantially tangential relation thereto so that blast gases introduced into the carburetor through said inlet immediately impinge against and swirl through the restricted base portion in contact with the flared walls and exert a lifting action on any carbon particles which may have been deposited in the base during a previous water gas carbureting step, and

- means for introducing secondary air into said carburetor.

2. A carbureted water gas set comprising a generator having a top outlet, acarburetor having a base inlet, a top outlet and an oil spray located at the top of the carburetor, and a super- I heater, said carburetor being elevated so that its inlet is substantially horizontally alined with the generator outlet, the top of the generator. communicating with the base of the carburetor communicating with the top of the superheater so that flow takes place up through the carburetor and down through the superheater, means for introducing secondary air into said carburetor; the upper portion of said carburetor being substantially unobstructed, said carburetor having heatstoring refractory material therein below said upper unobstructed portion and occupying a minor portion of the volume of the, carburetor above said base inlet, said carburetor having a restricted upwardly flared, cone-shaped, refractory lined base of smaller cross sectional area than the upper unobstructed portion of said carburetor, said base inlet being inclined downwardly in a direction substantially tangential'to the walls of said restricted base portion whereby blast gases introduced from said generator through said base inlet immediately impinge against the walls of said base and sweep thereover with a rotary motion so that they are thoroughly mixed with secondary air in the base and exert a lifting action on" carbonaceous particles deposited in the base during a previous water gas carbureting step to efiect burning of the carbonaceous particles in suspension, said upwardly flared carburetor base directing heat stored therein during the blast period upwardly into said carburetor.

CHARLES V. MCINTIRE. WILLIAM TIDDY.

} through said inlet and the top of the carburetor 

